THE third edition of Salamanca Chess Festival unfolded on Feb. 3 at the Colegio Arzobispo Fonseca in Salamanca, Spain, with a four-day program consisting of a youth tournament, a series of chess lectures and the centerpiece Masters event.
Eight prominent international players took part in the single round robin Masters Tournament which has a time control of 40 minutes plus 5-second increment. These players are GMs Veselin Topalov (2735), David Antón Guijarro (2679), Alexei Shirov (2662), and Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonneli (2607), IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467), WGMs Almira Skripchenko (2418), Nurgyul Salimova (2397) and Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (2392). The competition boiled down to a Category 12 (average Elo: 2544) event which will be played at two rounds a day except on the last day where a single round will be played.
After two rounds, Topalov and Salimova are leading the pack after two consecutive victories, followed by Anton Guijarro and Shirov who are half-a-point behind.
Standings after Round 2: 1-2. Topalov, Salimova, 2; 3-4. Shirov, Anton Guijarro, 1½; 5. Iturrizaga Bonelli, 1; 6-8. Paehtz, Skripchenko, Vega Gutierrez, 0.
Topalov, V (2735)-Paehtz, E (2467) [C00]
Salamanca (1.1) 2021
1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.dxe4 b6 5.Nbd2 Bc5 6.c3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Bd7 8.Bf1 Bc8 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Qe2 Bxb5 11.Qxb5+ Nbd7 12.e5 Nd5 13.Ne4 0-0 14.0-0 Be7 15.Qe2 Nc5 16.Nxc5 Bxc5 17.Rd1 b5 18.Qxb5 Nxc3 19.Rxd8 Nxb5 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.fxe3 a5 23.a4 Na7 24.Rc1 Nc8 25.e4 Nb6 26.b3 Ra7 27.Kf2 h6 28.Nd4 Nd7 29.Nb5 Rb7 30.Rxc7 Rxc7 31.Nxc7 Nxe5 32.Ke3 Nc6 33.Kd3 Kf8 34.Kc4 Ke7 35.Kc5 Kd7 36.Na8 g5 37.Nb6+ Kc7 38.Nc4 f5 39.exf5 exf5 40.Kd5 f4 41.Ke4 Kd7 42.h4 Ke6 43.h5 Kf6 44.Nd6 Ne5 45.Nf5 Nd7 46.Nxh6 Nc5+ 47.Kd5 Nxb3 48.Ng4+ Kf5 49.Ne5 Kf6 50.h6 Nd2 51.Kc6 Nb3 52.Kb5 Nd4+ 53.Kxa5 Ne6 54.Kb6 Kxe5 55.h7 Kd5 1-0
Vega Gutierrez, S (2392)-Anton Guijarro, D (2679) [B90]
Salamanca (1.3) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.f4 Rc8 10.Qf3 exf4 11.Qxf4 Be7 12.0-0-0 Rxc3 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.g4 Ne5 15.g5 Nfd7 16.h4 Qxc3 17.Bd4 Qb4 18.Bb2 0-0 19.a3 Qa4 20.Nd4 d5 21.Qg3 Rc8 22.Rh2 Bd6 23.exd5 Bxd5 24.Nf5 Be4 25.Nxd6 Rxc2+ 26.Kb1 Rxh2+ 27.Ka2 Rxb2+ 0-1
Shirov, A (2662)-Iturrizaga Bonelli, E (2607) [E39]
Salamanca (1.4) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 0-0 6.a3 Bxc5 7.Bf4 Nh5 8.Bg3 f5 9.Nf3 b6 10.e4 Bb7 11.0-0-0 Nc6 12.exf5 exf5 13.Nd5 Rc8 14.b4 Be7 15.Bd3 g6 16.Rhe1 Nxg3 17.hxg3 Bf6 18.Kb1 a5 19.b5 Ne7 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Qb2 Qf8 22.Bc2 d6 23.Ng5 Re8 24.Re6 Rxe6 25.Nxe6 Qf7 26.Ng5 Qg7 27.Qxg7+ Kxg7 28.Rxd6 Nc8 29.Rd7+ Re7 30.Rd8 Kf6 31.f4 Rc7 32.Rf8+ Ke7 33.Rf7+ Kd6 34.Rf6+ Ke7 35.Nxh7 Rxc4 36.Rxg6 Nd6 37.Ng5 Bxg2 38.Rg7+ Ke8 39.Bb3 Rc3 40.Be6 Kf8 41.Rd7 Ne4 42.Rf7+ Kg8 43.Rd7+ Kf8 44.Rf7+ Kg8 45.Rxf5+ Kg7 46.Rf7+ Kh6 47.Rh7+ Kg6 48.Bf7+ Kf6 49.Rh6+ Kg7 50.Rg6+ Kf8 51.Rg8+ Ke7 52.Re8+ Kf6 53.Rxe4 1-0
Paehtz, E (2467)-Iturrizaga Bonelli, E (2607) [D03]
Salamanca (2.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nbd2 0-0 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.Qb1 Nbd7 9.Ne5 h6 10.Bf4 Nxe5 11.Bxe5 Bd6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.f4 g5 14.0-0 gxf4 15.exf4 Bxf4 16.Qd1 Qg5 17.Nf3 Qh5 18.g3 Bd6 19.Qd2 f6 20.Rae1 Rae8 21.Nh4 Qg5 22.Qg2 Bc8 23.Ng6 Rf7 24.Nf4 Bxf4 25.Rxf4 c6 26.Bf5 Rg7 27.Qf3 Ree7 28.Bc2 Ref7 29.Kf2 f5 30.Re5 Bd7 31.Qe2 c5 32.Qe3 cxd4 33.cxd4 Rf8 34.Bb3 Kh7 35.Qd3 Kh8 36.Qe3 Rf6 37.Qc3 Rfg6 38.Bd1 Kh7 39.Re3 Qd8 40.Qb4 Bc8 41.Rc3 Rc7 42.Rxc7+ Qxc7 43.Rf3 Qd8 44.Rc3 Rg7 45.Rc6 f4 46.Bc2+ Kh8 47.Qc3 Bd7 48.Rd6 fxg3+ 49.Kg1 Qf8 0-1
Salimova, N (2397)-Vega Gutierrez, S (2392) [E04]
Salamanca (2.3) 2021
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 b5 6.Ne5 Bb7 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Nc3 a6 9.b3 b4 10.bxc4 Nfd7 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Nd3 a5 13.a3 Na6 14.c5 Nf6 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.e3 0-0 17.axb4 Nxb4 18.Nxb4 axb4 19.Bd2 e5 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.dxe5 Bxe5 22.Bxb4 Ba6 23.Re1 Qb7 24.Ba5 Qb5 25.Qd2 Qxc5 26.Bb4 Qb6 27.Bxf8 Kxf8 28.Rc1 c5 29.Rxc5 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qd4!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Qc5 2.Rxe4#; 1…Qf5 2.Qg7#; 1…Bf3/f5 2.R(x)f5#; 1…Re6/e5 2.Sxf7#; 1…Se5, Qe5 2.Sxe4#./PN
